


The Ones We Left Behind

by unavoidablekoishi



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Except for Amami, Memory Regaining Au, Multi, guaranteed, idk man, idk where its going tho, personality switch, survival AU, this aint gonna make sense, ur gonna find out if u read it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:01:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27237718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unavoidablekoishi/pseuds/unavoidablekoishi
Summary: “Well, ‘cuz of our external issues, we’re ditching this game. It’s not just ‘cuz you got lucky enough to pluck out the mastermind, but that did help our ultimate decision. We’re ditching the whole thing and, by extension, we’re ditching you.”“What? What do you mean? You’re leaving us here?”“Oh, someone said it! Well, it’s all gotten stale- we didn’t think this idea would bomb so badly! Still, in the spirit of the game, we’ll leave you writhing with despair! That’s why you’ll be left in the school. All electricity and water supplies will be cut off, as will any devices remotely controlled by us. That includes me!”There’s a pause where it truly sinks in what’s going to happen to them.
Relationships: Akamatsu Kaede/Saihara Shuichi, More will be added as it goes on - Relationship
Comments: 2
Kudos: 38





	The Ones We Left Behind

_ Well, this is as far as it goes. I wasn’t able to get to the mastermind… _

_ I’m sorry, Amami...Saihara… _

_...You figured it out already, didn’t you? _

* * *

“I...I don’t...think…”

Saihara’s words are slow and uncertain, hanging in the already tense air of the courtroom. He doesn’t see it, but Akamatsu’s forehead creases ever so slightly. His gaze is fixed firmly on the floor as one single shred of doubt flitters and lands in front of him. For a second he wonders, if he hadn’t noticed it, maybe the future would be different.

“What? You...you know who it is.” Akamatsu looks at the surrounding members of the class, almost uncertainly. Though she isn’t sweating, her body feels hot with nerves. It’s stifling and suffocating, and when Saihara perks up and looks her dead in the eye, she begins to feel a little bit sick.

It’s not...as if she’d actually  _ planned  _ for Amami to...y’know-- and on top of that, if she’d known that Amami were to wind up as her unintentional victim, then she would’ve never set that trap to begin with. Her aim was the mastermind and only the mastermind, but that didn’t shake the fact that they had a corpse on their hands, and it was all her fault.

She swallows thickly- the silence felt as if it had gone on for far too long, but she didn’t want to say anything. It wasn’t really her place to do so. She wrings her hands silently, wondering if Saihara really needed that extra encouragement. Surely, he’d gotten the hint by now. She was surprised nobody else in the group had painted her as the killer yet.

Was that purely by influence alone? It leaves a bitter taste in her mouth, realising that she could easily get away with this, should she have ever wanted to. She comes to the nasty realisation that there are plenty of people in the world who could’ve gotten away with murder in this manner. 

Saihara finally speaks, but it’s...not really what she wants to hear.

“I think you’re sort of barking up the wrong tree…”

She stares at him incredulously. Her? Barking up the wrong tree? Did he not realise that it was  _ literally  _ impossible? She was the culprit! It was so blatantly obvious that she almost felt like tearing her hair out in frustration on behalf of everyone else, but...she couldn’t be the one to break the news. It  _ had  _ to be Saihara.

And...Saihara knew this too, so why wasn’t he playing ball?

Saihara shakes his head, and for a moment, under his hat, Akamatsu catches a glimpse of something far more intense than she’d ever seen before. Though it was sad, she couldn’t shake the feeling that it felt like a warning. Her hands feel clammy, and she desperately wants to tell him that she knows what she’s doing-- she knows what’s going to happen and she’s ready to accept the consequences laid out before her by Monokuma.

Why wasn’t he accepting it?

“C...C’mon, Saihara, it’s...you’re the Ultimate Detective! I know you know who it is. You just have to tell everyone…”

Everybody else are being remarkably polite, letting them have their vaguely worded exchange before them, and Akamatsu can’t help but feel like it’s pinning further suspicion on both of them. She’s not going to let him die with her- that would just sabotage everyone else’s chance of escape.

“That’s the thing-- I...I don’t. Listen, I know what you’re trying to do, but something just does not add up here.”

Akamatsu swallows. She’s begging him quietly,  _ please don’t make this harder than it has to be. _ She doesn’t particularly enjoy the idea of leaving him behind, either. Any more of this, though, and she might as well and confess right now.

“What...are you two on about?”

Whoever said that has blended so far into the background, that Akamatsu can’t pick the voice out. This situation is playing with every single one of her nerves, and, in all honesty, she’s actually getting a little bit cross.

“L...Let me explain.” Saihara swallows, mentally calming himself enough to talk to the entire group. “Akamatsu...Akamatsu wants me to pin her as the culprit.”

As if it wasn’t evident before, but whilst Saihara’s explanations are concise, they’re not...always useful and or reassuring. This statement alone brings about the calm before the storm and  _ then  _ the actual storm itself. Most of this storm is made up of Momota, naturally.

“What?! Akamatsu, what’re you playing at? We’re not gonna vote you as the culprit!” Momota habitually presses his knuckles together, and Akamatsu decides it’s quite cute in its own way. Focusing on that keeps her from focusing on his words. She doesn’t know how else to ignore what he’s saying.

“You say that-- we’re not going to vote for her as the culprit if she isn’t  _ actually  _ the culprit.” Hoshi adds on lowly, in an attempt to remind Momota that, despite not having the will to live himself, he isn’t going to mindlessly spend his life to save Akamatsu-- that is, if she actually had committed the murder. 

Momota opens his mouth to retort harshly, clearly not realising that Hoshi’s words are actually not only a realistic take on the situation, but a take shared by everyone else in the courtroom. Of course, they don’t want to say that out loud. It’s hard to look a friend dead in the eye and say ‘I like you, but if you’re the killer, then I’m going to let you be executed’.

Obviously with better wording, though. However, Harukawa cuts through before Momota actually has a chance to say anything.

“He’s right. Voting Akamatsu if she isn’t the killer is just going to be the end of us, but...if she  _ was  _ behind this…” There’s a nice little emphasis on ‘was’ that leaves a bitter gaze in Harukawa’s eyes and a guilty shiver up Akamatsu’s spine, “...then I would have no problems voting for her.”

“I feel similar. As much as I...appreciate your heartfelt intentions, should you be the culprit, I would have no choice but to vote for you, Akamatsu…” Shinguuji tacks on, with a gaze as solid as steel yet as soft as silk. Akamatsu exhales harshly, understanding entirely. Maybe now was the time to get it over and done with.

“That’s the thing…” Saihara pipes up, “The situation is kind of, um...well, okay, I don’t want to say ‘incriminating’, but I think there’s a lot more to it than what we’ve talked about so far.”

“What do you mean?” Shirogane tilts her head ever so slightly. Yumeno sticks a finger in her ear and twists it grotesquely, now intrigued by the situation.

“I mean…” Saihara pauses, and then sighs heavily, “Akamatsu wants me to tell you all that she’s the culprit-- and I don’t blame her because I think I’ve figured out what happened, but-- don’t look at me like that...please.”

Akamatsu emits a breathy laugh, devoid of humour. Saihara just looks plain sad.

“Akamatsu…?” Momota is significantly quieter than before, “Wh...you want us to vote for you? Is that it?” 

Akamatsu doesn’t really know what to say right about now. She wants to feign ignorance and battle it out so Saihara can prove to everyone just  _ why  _ she’s the guilty party, but he’s only gone and cocked up her plan. Isn’t that just typical. Maybe it’s what she likes about him.

“We’ll waste time if we argue about it now.” Saihara says firmly, “So, if you don’t mind, I’ll tell you what went down-- or what seemingly went down.”

“Please do.” Toujou looks remarkably concerned. In fact, everyone does, more or less. Saihara isn’t the fondest of having a large audience, but he has to do his best or it’ll all be for nothing.

He’s not just going to let this go down how Akamatsu wants it to. Like she’s always telling him, he needs to do something-- and he’s  _ going  _ to do something.

* * *

“You...what?”

“Did you really do all of that? Akamatsu?”

The courtroom becomes a buzz of energy after Saihara finishes explaining the situation in as much detail as he can. From the purpose of the flash of the camera, to each and every book neatly lined up for one certain purpose that just ended up backfiring entirely on everyone. Akamatsu looks down with shame written on her face, but...nobody seems to be angry. Well, not at her, anyway. Any anger found in this school can always, always be traced right back to Monokuma.

“I just...I had to get rid of the mastermind. I had to, so we could all go home. I never meant to kill Amami.” Akamatsu replies, lamely. It’s hardly an excuse- murder is still murder, and in a place like this, what else is she supposed to do?

“I...see.”

She doesn’t think she can look up. Her head is just one giant swirl of every emotion under the sun- some stronger than others- but she remains outwardly calm. For the sake of her friends, she feels that she has to.

“Jesus, Akamatsu, you went that far…?” Momota sounds deceptively calm for what he’s just heard.

“I...well...I mean, you didn’t  _ mean  _ to kill Amami…”

“Whether she meant to or not, it doesn’t change the fact that this is the situation as it stands.”

Through the slew of conversation, Hoshi’s deep voice attracts immediate attention, “Whilst you’re all saying that, did you forget what Saihara was going on about? I wouldn’t take this at face value...just yet.” He holds the brim of his hat, pulling down partially over his eyes as he watches Saihara with intensity.

“He’s right.” Toujou adds, “Saihara, you seemed to have expressed some doubt about all of this?”

“I mean...I’d be doubtful too if one of my friends committed murder.” Shirogane says, thoughtfully, “...but the situation seems to make too much sense. How could it not be that?”

“Because…” Saihara begins, finishing quite weakly, “...well...okay, it’s tough to just try and explain. I’ll admit, I’m not the most eloquent.” He emits an awkward laugh, as if to try and calm his own nerves. “I’m not sure whether to call it...detective’s intuition.”

“We can’t base this trial on intuition alone.” Harukawa butts in, sharply, making Saihara visibly flinch. “No, I know…”

“Leave off, man, he’s not the Ultimate Detective for nothin’, is he? I think it’s worth givin’ a shot.” Momota manages to shoot her down quite effectively, and Harukawa, though silent, glares at him. “Fine.”

“Whilst the situation makes sense-- I mean, the proof is all there- there’s just one thing that I can’t help but focus on, and that’s just...the likelihood of all of this  _ actually  _ working.”

“What do you mean?”

Saihara leans over his podium slightly, trying to ignore Monokuma, sitting in his peripheral vision, “I mean, whilst the plan is all well and good, what are the chances of it working perfectly first time around?”

“I’m beginning to see what you mean.” Toujou nods, “Whilst it’s an elaborate set-up, usually, for these things to work perfectly, they at least need a test run.”

“I mean, the shot put was big, but the gap of books was bigger. There’s a chance that the shot put could’ve missed him-- hell, there’s a chance the shot put never made it down there at all!”

“You say this,” Shinguuji remarks, “but  _ something  _ had to have fallen from that height to have made such an impact on Amami’s...head. If the shot put hadn’t made it all the way down, then how did it even get to the library floor?”

“That’s true, but I was just throwing the idea out there.” Saihara seems to contemplate this. “It’s just...it really doesn’t sit right with me. That secret door doesn’t answer any of our questions at all.”

Akamatsu is gravely silent through all of this. Don’t mistake anything, she desperately wants to live, but at the expense of her classmates? Never in a million years. She’d rather this was just over and done with...but she can’t bring herself to speak.

“Akamatsu are you okay?” Chabashira is sweet and just a little bit shy about now, but her question is genuine. Akamatsu can’t help but offer a smile, “I just...I don’t think we should drag this out any further…”

“Look, I get it’s hard--” Momota tells her, “--but on the off-chance that maybe we’re wrong, we gotta explore every angle. We’ve gotten this far, we can’t dick it up now.”

She frowns slightly, but...he’s right. Though the chance is slim, and she’s ready to give in, just to make sure they’re all right, she supposes she can let Saihara do his thing. 

If anything, she’s actually proud of him.

“There’s also one thing about that door that bothers me a little bit.” Toujou perks up, amidst the conversation. “And, by extension, Amami too.”

“What’s that?”

“Saihara, you mentioned noticing the door because of the odd pattern of dust on the floor, no?” Toujou stands primly at her podium, directing her question towards the detective who stammers an agreement in response. She nods daintily, “As I thought. That baffles me slightly…”

She puts a finger to her chin.

“If you were able to discover the door for the dust patterns, that was under the pretense that the mastermind had been going in and out of that door beforehand, no?”

“Well...yeah, it was.”

“So...for Amami, who had clearly opened the door for himself prior to this incident, how was he able to locate this door?” She asks. Saihara has to process it for a moment, but frowns.

“I mean… perhaps Amami had picked up on it before I had, but it’s possible he could’ve seen the same dust patterns.”

“Ah, but Amami was working by himself. In fact, he seemed very concerned with carrying out his investigations alone, so if he had seen those dust patterns… wouldn’t it make sense for him to  _ erase  _ those patterns to prevent interference?”

Saihara blinks. That was… a very good point, actually.

“So, let’s say that these dust patterns did not come into the picture until you found them. Amami can’t erase what he hasn’t seen. How else would Amami have found the door?”

“In fairness, the door  _ does  _ blend really well with the rest of the library. I guess, as a mastermind, you can’t afford to make a door that people will notice, right?” Akamatsu isn’t in any better of a mood, but would rather be helpful than not.

“Maybe it was noticeable so we  _ could  _ discover it! Right?” Yonaga’s suggestion is chipper, and, though it’s a nice thought outside of the box, it doesn’t make much sense and goes mostly ignored.

“Like I mentioned before, it’s very possible the mastermind had told Amami about the existence of the door.” Hoshi puts in, eyeing each and every student standing around him. Akamatsu looks unsure, “Well...I suppose…”

“You say that,” Shinguuji rebutts, “but consider- what if Amami had chosen to tell us about the door? That would’ve thrown more than just a spanner in the works of the mastermind’s plan if we’d all found out.”

“I hate to say it but, he’s right.” Iruma frowns, “If the mastermind had told  _ me  _ about a secret door, I would’ve told you guys. I ain’t lettin’ myself get cornered by the freak running this gaff.” She folds her arms with more confidence than appropriate, and Ouma smirks, “Aw, don’t go tempting the mastermind any further. He might come for  _ you  _ next!” His ominous words seem to be enough to silence Iruma for the time being.

“And on top of that, why tell Amami of all people?” Toujou puts a gloved finger to her chin in thought, “It leads us to wonder just how long Amami had known about this- and why he hadn’t told us.”

“Gonta thinks that if the mastermind planned to kill Amami, maybe there would be proof at the library!” 

Saihara is so busy thinking, he’s actually begun to tune most of the conversation around him out. It’s something of a bad habit, but...Toujou had a point back there. He’d only ever noticed the presence of the door because of those dust patterns. If there had been no dust patterns before Amami had found it, then how  _ did  _ he find it? Assuming he hadn’t been directly told by the mastermind, an idea he thought to be a little implausible, then what-- was it by luck?

“I don’t think he could’ve been lucky enough to just find it on accident…” Saihara speaks aloud without meaning to, unaware that the conversation had moved on without him. Nonetheless, everyone begins to ponder his words.

“Unless he was goin’ around pullin’ at the shelves…” Yumeno moans, “I don’t think Amami would’ve found it or anythin’. It looks way too real. Maybe he used magic.”

Magic, in this scenario, was absolutely off the table, so nobody decided to touch that one, much to Yumeno’s dismay. Still, now that it was being addressed, it appeared that everyone else was beginning to feel the same doubt Saihara had been feeling.

“Speaking of Amami, his talent is still an exceptional mystery…” Shinguuji chuckles from under his mask. “What if he  _ were  _ the mastermind?”

“Huh?” Akamatsu frowns, “If he were the mastermind, then the game would’ve ended by now, right?” That was the whole point of her plan, after all. If he’d died, and he had been the mastermind, then what were they all standing around here for? Monokuma was still in control. “Not to mention, we already proved he wasn’t ‘cuz he didn’t have the key card to get in.”

“Well, there’s a chance perhaps he was feigning innocence. If he’d noticed the cameras, then perhaps he attempted to photograph himself looking as innocent as the rest of us.” Shinguuji seems to shrug at the throwaway idea, but his eyes begin to gleam dangerously, “But, besides that...I mean, you say that under the assumption that killing the mastermind will actually end the game. The idea of the game continuing beyond the mastermind’s control is still plausible.” He warns, filling Akamatsu with dread at the idea. That couldn’t be right.

“Are you stupid?” Iruma barks, “Then what’s gonna happen to us at the end if the mastermind dies? We all got a goal to work towards-- Monokuma is still up and running and the place is still active. Even if the mastermind is one dude by himself, you think he’s doing this alone? Look at this fuckin’ place! No way could one lousy little bastard could run it alone.”

“She’s...actually got a point, y’know. Might be more than one person.”

“On the outside, sure, but one of us, here, is still on their side.”

There’s a long pause as everyone exhausts their lines of reasoning. It feels like they’re moving around in a stalemate, and Saihara is beginning to panic. Something is out there, it’s just beyond his reach, but he can’t quite grab it, and time is running out. Just in case Monokuma decides the silence means the end of the trial, he speaks up.

“Well, Amami didn’t have the key card, so...he probably isn’t the mastermind. Otherwise, he would’ve been able to get through the door. If he was the mastermind, would he even have a need to pretend to investigate?”

This is agreed by everyone else.

“And, if we assume that Amami didn’t find the door the way I did, then that means he found some other clue...right? Other than the possibility of being told directly by the mastermind themselves.”

“That...makes sense.”

“What else did he have on his person at the time?”

“Just his keys and his Monopad, I guess. I found them in his pocket right after the murder.” Saihara brandishes the evidence himself for everyone to see. He absentmindedly inspects the Monopad as chatter arises. It looked like all the other Monopads in school...nothing overly suspicious.

“Maybe carrying around his Monopad is suspicious?” Yumeno offers unhelpfully, “I don’t carry mine around. Too bulky for that.” This strikes some concerned looks from friends in the circle- Yumeno found herself to be a cause for concern more often than not with her lax behaviour.

“I can’t imagine it’s too strange.” Harukawa offers, “but if you wanted to follow that line of reasoning, you could ask why he was holding it at the time.” It’s not a harsh rebuttal, and, upon further thought, actually makes a decent amount of sense. Was there a particular reason Amami needed his Monopad out in the library? He had pockets, after all.

Saihara freezes absolutely solid for a moment.

“His pockets! That’s it!”

There’s a nice, sizable pause before Yonaga asks, “Is it?” 

Saihara perks up, now with far more energy than before, faced with the prospect of a brand new lead, “His pockets! Look at this photo- the one where he’d just discovered the camera.” He struggles to produce the cumbersome piece of paper in his haste. Iruma tilts her head, “The one with the flash on?”

“Look- he has his Monopad in his hand! You see?”

“We do see,” Toujou agrees, “but what does that mean? Are you agreeing with Harukawa’s idea of it being suspicious?” 

Yumeno frowns from under the brim of her hat, muttering quietly, “It was  _ my  _ idea, actually…”

“If you think about it, this would’ve been the point right before the murder, yes? He was in the exact spot for the shot put to hit his head from above.” Saying this out loud brings an unpleasant sensation to Akamatsu’s gut, but she pushes it down in favour of listening.

“I suppose the timing would’ve been crucial to this plan working.”

“Exactly-- but here, his Monopad is in his hand. When I went to search the body after we all came down, the Monopad was in his pocket!!”

This sudden revelation brings wide-eyes and open mouths to the courtroom, but nobody can think of a single thing to say.

“Saihara…” Akamatsu says softly, but seriously, “What do you think that means? Did somebody move it?”

“When you think about it, you and I were one of the first people to find his body- and, assuming you were the culprit, I know for a fact you didn’t put the Monopad in his pocket.” 

“Isn’t it possible that he just...put it in his pocket right after the picture was taken-- but before he was killed?”

“I think the window of time would’ve been far too short for that. The moment the alarm went off, we left-- that’s probably when Akamatsu put the shot put into the vent. In that time, the flash would’ve gone off and Amami would’ve gone towards it. Even if he were to put the pad in his pocket, I think it would’ve been evident that he was going to in the photo. After all, he was reaching out to remove the tape, right?”

“I think he’s right, you know. Maybe the Monopad  _ was  _ important!”

“That would mean that  _ somebody  _ would’ve had to move the Monopad right after he died-- but we didn’t see any sign of anyone else down there!” Akamatsu can’t help but revel in the stab of hope that Saihara’s idea has given her. Even though she’s already resigned herself to her fate, she still feels ultimately hopeful for the future.

“That’s not true, though.” Saihara glances at her with a glint in his eye that tells Akamatsu that he might’ve really found something important. “Remember when we came down? The door was closing just as we entered the room. We know the door closes automatically, yet...it’s very possible the person who altered the scene escaped through there.”

“You mean the real mastermind?”

“I mean, unless we followed the idea that Amami  _ did  _ put the Monopad into his pocket himself, then that would mean the shot put that Akamatsu dropped didn’t  _ actually  _ hit him.”

Saihara’s idea, one that turned the entire case on its side, left everyone quiet and suspicious. Though the air felt heavy, it was almost a relief to have gotten this far. Saihara can’t help but remember that just because he was the Ultimate Detective, didn’t mean everyone actually had to believe whatever he said. They didn’t even have to consider it if they didn’t want to.

“I think...that sounds a little bit far-fetched though.” Shirogane has lines of concern etched into her face as she rests her chin on her hand, “It’s impossible to determine the timing down to the second, right? I don’t think we could know what actually happened in that short space of time.”

“It’s very possible he put the pad in his pocket to mess with the camera, right~? I know I would’ve.” Yonaga suggests, but Saihara shakes his head. “Though the photograph shows Amami reaching for the camera, it hadn’t been tampered with or taken off the shelf. It would’ve taken two hands to undo the tape but since it was exactly how we left it, we can’t say for sure.”

“Ahh…”

“But where does that leave us? That means there’s another person involved in all of this, and we have no way of figuring out who they are! I mean, we all have alibis.”

Shinguuji chuckles, shattering the beginnings of a debate entirely. Nobody likes it when he laughs the way he does and Saihara is genuinely worried this is the beginning of a confession. However, Shinguuji eyes the detective intently, “That’s...not entirely true. Do you remember what I said earlier?”

“Eh?”

“Shirogane left to go to the bathroom during all of this.”

“You’re still going on about that?! Are you some kind of pervert!?” Chabashira snaps, assuming a defensive position on Shirogane’s behalf. Shirogane, herself, looks a bit pale as she mumbles, “Do we have to talk about this? It’s really embarrassing.”

Shinguuji shakes his head nonetheless, “I have no intention of focusing on your bathroom habits, but what I  _ am  _ saying is that during that window of time, Shirogane was entirely by herself.” He says coolly, “Whether or not you choose to investigate that is up to you.”

Saihara swallows. If nobody was watching Shirogane at the time then that  _ was  _ a cause for concern. After all, who was to say that Shirogane really went to the bathroom at that point.

“Y...You’re not seriously suspecting me, are you? I promise you, I really did go to the bathroom.”

“You  _ were  _ a while…”

“Are you still on about that you disgusting creep?!” Chabashira swats the air as if giving Shinguuji a visual taste of what was to come, should either of them make it out alive. Shinguuji doesn’t seem even remotely perturbed by this.

“W-Well, okay, let’s...let’s put that one on the back burner for now, and focus on the Monopad.” Akamatsu attempts to quell the flames of Chabashira’s barely contained rage, “What I want to know is why, if someone  _ did  _ move the Monopad, why put it back in Amami’s pockets? Why would anyone do that?”

“There doesn’t...seem to be a reason for it, does there?”

“Are you guys fuckin’ thick? It obviously had to be something on the Monopad or something!” Iruma spits but, without much evidence to back it up. Though her words are aggressive, she falters towards the end. “I mean...it’s just an idea.”

“No, no, I think...well, that would have to be the only reason, right?” Saihara offers, “Usually, when something like that gets moved, it means the culprit was attempting to hide it.”

“Well, I  _ guess  _ that makes sense.” Ouma drawls, “I wasn’t even trying to hide the pad to begin with. I guess you got me.” He shrugs with indifference, and Kiibo pulls as negative an expression as a robot can physically make. “Please don’t attempt to mislead us-- you’re clearly lying.”

“Oops. Was it that obvious?”

“Actually...I think he’s right.”

Ouma perks up with wide eyes, but his face screams confusion, “Eh? You believed me?”

“No, I think...even though the culprit moved the Monopad, they weren’t really trying to hide it. I mean, if you were trying to hide Amami’s pad, you wouldn’t just put it in his pocket. I think when the culprit put it there, they didn’t really care whether it got found or not.”

“You...think so? But then why would they move it to begin with? To mislead us?”

“I doubt it,” Harukawa answers, “There’s no place to lead us to with this. Unless it was incriminating, it doesn’t make sense. It would just serve to confuse us and nothing else.”

“Maybe Ouma really  _ did  _ do it.”

“H-Huh?! I didn’t do it! Are you blaming me now?!”

“Simmer down, kid. Don’t start getting worked up now-- it looks like we might actually be getting somewhere.”

Saihara honestly wanted to crumple at this point. This big, glaring piece of evidence was just taunting him at this point. If he couldn’t figure out what was going on with this, he might be leading him and everyone else to an early death. At this point, he was convinced that Akamatsu wasn’t the one to kill Amami, despite the trap.

He couldn’t just boil that down to intuition, though. He needed cold, hard proof to reach the even colder and the even harder truth. He picks up the Monopad submitted as evidence, Amami’s very own pad that he’d allegedly been holding up until the point he’d left this realm. 

“I guess there’s nothing else to do but check it for clues. Maybe there’s something on here that could tell us what’s up.”

“I doubt that,” Saihara replies glumly, “I tried it earlier but it wouldn’t turn on. I’m certain that it’s his, but...if it’s broken, then there’s nothing we can do about it.” His words seem to sap the positivity out of the atmosphere, though it’s not his intention to do so. He’s so certain that the Monopad could give him a clue…

“Ahem!!”

“I mean...if the culprit hid the pad, they probably broke it on purpose. That makes sense, doesn’t it?”

“ _ Ahem!! _ ”

“You’re probably right, Kiibo,” Saihara nods, setting the pad down onto the edge of his podium, careful not to knock it onto the floor, “It’s the only thing I can imagine right now.”

“God, are you guys fucking  _ stupid?! Hello?! Ultimate Inventor stood right here!!” _

Iruma’s loud proclamation of her identity draws every pair of eyes standing around the circle, save for the empty eyes of a departed friend, imprinted on paper. She’s red around the cheeks, looking impatiently around at everyone. She deadpans when she doesn’t get the response she was looking for.

“You guys are fucking idiots. Gimme that, I’ll get it working.”

Iruma snatches the pad from Saihara, who, though his eyes look uncertain, hands it over with minimal fuss. I mean, what else could be done with it now? Perhaps Iruma  _ could _ fix it-- and if she could, then that would be even better.

“Ah-- whaddya think you’re doing? You can’t tamper with the evidence!” Monokuma’s robotic voice is still so gravelly, despite the high, grating pitch, but before anyone can protest, Saihara purposely and pointedly talks over him, attempting to ignore his efforts to cease further investigation.

“Well, if you can tell what’s wrong with it…”

The others cotton on quite quickly to this. If they sit around and listen to Monokuma talking, they’ll only be giving him enough time to formulate a rule that will hinder their pursuit of the truth. 

“It doesn’t look broken, though.” Yonaga comments, still quite chipper, “It’s not even cracked or anything!”

“If it was cracked then it would only draw more attention to it. If you could break it without making it look visibly broken, then there’s a decent chance we wouldn’t even notice it’s broken. Of course...I tried to turn it on earlier and found out that way.”

“Couldn’t it just be out of charge? Why’d you go ahead and assume it’s broken?”

“Because I had my Monopad on me at the time, too. It hasn’t started to get low on battery yet, so I can only assume Amami’s is the same.”

“That makes sense.”

“Hey!” Monokuma is indignant and the Monokubs seem to be chattering amongst themselves in a conspiratorial manner, “Don’t ignore your headmaster! I’m the judge here, kiddos!”

“Iruma! Did you fix it yet?” Akamatsu has a twinge of desperation to her voice because there’s no telling how long Monokuma will take this before he snaps and begins to dish out assumedly the most overkill of consequences.

“God, calm your titties, Tittymatsu! I’m a great inventor, I’m not fuckin’ Jesus or anythin’. I’ll be done in a sec, I think I found what’s wrong with this bastard…”

“S-Shouldn’t...we be listening to Monokuma?” Shirogane sounds fearful, glimpsing over at the expectant looking bear sat in the-- well, you could only describe it as a throne, really. Could a robot feel narcissism? Is that what that was? Some kind of over-glorification of his status in the school? It was really in bad taste, if anything.

“So, if we get the pad fixed, it’ll give us a clue?” Momota sounds hopeful, and, in all honesty, Saihara  _ feels _ hopeful. His hands are sweating profusely, gripped hard against the rim of his podium and his knuckles are stark white. He can’t afford to cock up now.

His eyes rest comfortably on Akamatsu. That’s why. 

He knows what she did. He knows she could’ve killed him, and he knows, if fate had kicked them down a different stony, spiky path, then he really wouldn’t have had a choice but to look her in the eye and spread her sins across the courtroom. 

He doesn’t want to believe in intuition. He thinks it sounds fake- he also thinks it’s an excuse for misinformed people to create misinformed and subsequently potentially dangerous deductions, but...every now and then he gets this  _ feeling,  _ and even when he may feel like he wants to be wrong, there’s just something telling him that it wasn’t all as it seemed.

He shivers suddenly, and there’s a moment where everything he can hear has been muffled by anxiety, blocked off by nerves, and it’s like sitting in a bubble, warped by the thoughts of every worst-case scenario. Akamatsu’s slightly nervous smile is enough to make him feel at peace, even under the most dire of circumstances, and he doesn’t know how he could carry on in a game like this if she wasn’t here to help him.

So, to make up for all the times she’s helped him, he wants to help her.

“Okay, swiggity swooty, let’s boot up this beauty~! And, _ go! _ ”

Iruma holds the pad out at arms length, dramatically switching the button that turns the pad on, and, to her utmost relief, the pad flashes shakily and very slowly lights up. Saihara watches her face drop to something far more placid, and he gets the feeling she feels lucky that it turned on the first time around. It definitely would’ve saved her the embarrassment of her overconfidence.

“Is it working?”

“What does it say?”

“Hey! I just said you can’t do that!” Monokuma sounds far more insistent this time, his forehead boiling with an odd red colour. Saihara turns to him before Momota can dish out some ballsy words, “We’ve already seen the evidence taken from the scene. This isn’t tampering- this is working towards the investigation and the trial like you wanted us to!” He retorts with a deep frown. 

Monokuma only laughs. He laughs like he always does- screechy and obnoxious. The gavel he’s holding in his-- it doesn’t even look like a paw, let alone a hand, but whatever it is, it’s flipping the solidly wooden hammer over and over.

“Well, then, you better hurry up ‘cuz it’ll be time up soon enough!”

“There’s a time limit?! You didn’t tell us that!” Momota yells- the others are muttering to each other like a swarm of rodents fussing over the contents of the Monopad. Iruma seems to have reluctantly relinquished possession of it for now with a monstrous pout on her face.

“What, you think the trial would go on forever? Good things come to an end sooner or later, kids- remember that one. Nah, nah, there’s no  _ official  _ time limit, but when I start getting bored, that’s the time you should start panicking- and I’m  _ way  _ past bored now!”

“You should all be good boys and girls and do as he says~!” Monophanie’s voice is by far the sweetest out of all of these robotic monstrosities, but, sweet as it is, it’s still utterly irritating. 

“Yup! Otherwise he’s gonna be dishing out some serious punishments! I can’t wait!”

“Will you lot pack it in, already? Nobody gives a shit about your dumb dialogue! Iruma-- what does it say?” Momota is hasty and ahead of himself, and Iruma shrugs, “I don’t got it! Tittymatsu has it!”

“Is it...wise to give it to our suspected criminal?”

Akamatsu shakes her head, “S...Saihara, I can’t find anything. Maybe he did just...break it accidentally…” She can feel her hope physically draining, as if it’s making her body lighter. It’s a bizarre, surreal feeling, accompanied with the light, dizziness that rattles soundlessly inside her head. Saihara extends an arm, “Give it here, I’ll have a look. There has to be something.”

“I could take a look…”

Akamatsu soundly ignores Shirogane’s offer and actually tosses the pad across the courtroom towards Saihara. There’s a moment of stone-cold silence and painful anticipation as everyone prays the Monopad doesn’t break.

“Jeez, Akamatsu- don’t do that! If we break it now, it’s all over!”

“Sorry, sorry...I wasn’t thinking straight…”

“I’ll say. So, how about it, Saihara? You find anything?”

Saihara’s fingers slide noisily across the smooth touch screen of the Monopad. The dried sweat on his hands makes it harder to operate as he quickly skims through every option. Settings? No. He didn’t want to adjust the notification settings. Student Profiles? Even Amami’s was just as it was on his own pad. Map? What even would be different--

...Ah.

That...would be it. 

He’ll admit, he feels lucky. He feels lucky he opened it on a whim, feeling like he was losing his important lead, and he gets this rush of dread, wondering what could be happening right now if he hadn’t bothered to open the map function.

“What...what is this?” He speaks aloud, garnering attention, but making no attempts to quell his classmates curiosity. “This doesn’t look…”

He can’t believe his eyes. They’re wide, unblinking, twitching under the pressure and Akamatsu watches the tiny speck of light she can see reflected in them, squinting to get any kind of idea of what he could be looking at.

“Oh, oh, oh-- I think time is up my darling little students~! You better have a target lined up, ‘cuz if you don’t vote now then you won’t get to ever again!” Monokuma laughs, and it echoes around the spacious chamber the courtroom is set up in. It doesn’t even sound like a laugh so much as an audio glitch, but the amount of maliciousness behind it is unmistakable. It’s haunting.

“N-No, I got it! I got it!”

“If you got it, then vote for it~!”

Everyone’s clamoring for an answer all at once and all from him, and he wheezes, having not taken a proper breath in over two minutes. He splutters, clenching the pad tightly as if afraid it would slip out of his hands at the crucial moment.

“But...I don’t understand. How would you have even been able to…” He pauses. Everyone pauses. The time to vote is now, dictated by Monokuma, but nobody is paying attention.

Saihara turns to Shirogane.

“I...guess Shinguuji’s deductions held water after all.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about…” Shirogane’s voice is steady, but her brows dip downwards, creating ugly, anxious lines across her forehead. Her general, nervous stutter is no longer there. Saihara feels something inside him sink, and...well, he doesn’t want to admit it...but something feels lighter too.

Akamatsu is open-mouthed from across the room, but he can just make out the beginnings of a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth.

“I mean...you had to have…”

“Had to what? I didn’t kill Amami! I was in the dining hall! We all talked about this.” Shirogane knows full well what she’s overlookingm and Saihara isn’t sure why she’s even bothering. His previous adrenaline rush has left him exhausted.

“You left to go to the bathroom.”

“Yeah. I went to the bathroom. We know this. I also came back.”

“C...Can you show me your Monopad?”

Shirogane frowns further. “W...Why should I? I’m sure it’s no different from all of yours.” She folds her arms, “And why would I even want Amami dead? He was the one who said he was going to get us out of this horrible game!”

“And...that’s exactly why you wanted to kill him.” Saihara replied lowly, “If...you were the mastermind, the last thing you’d want is for someone to end the game too early.”

“What’re you even sayin’ Saihara? How is it Shirogane? Did she go to the library?”

“I didn’t!”

Saihara holds up the pad, “Look at this map. You guys can probably tell it’s a lot more different from ours.” Everyone squints to inspect- he holds it out as far as he can, “Shirogane’s alibi is no longer an alibi. In fact, it’s proof.” He swallows thickly. He doesn’t look anywhere near Shirogane, instead hiding his gaze under the brim of his hat.

“What even is that?! Where is that?”

“Ooh~! Are those some secrets? Why didn’t we know about this?”

“Duh-- the mastermind didn’t want us to know! That’s the whole point of secret passages, dumbass!” 

“I’ll have you know, I knew the entire time! Nishishi…”

“Shut it, you!”

“But...that’s Amami’s Monopad,” Harukawa cuts through, quietly, “Why is it on  _ his _ pad? Wouldn’t something like that be on Shirogane’s pad?”

“Exactly! If anything, that just proves that Amami had something to do with the mastermind!” 

“That’s why I asked you if I could look at your pad...Shirogane.” Saihara is staring at the floor very intently as he says this, unable to bring himself to look a fraction of an inch upwards. He knows if he did, though, that Akamatsu would be smiling at him- or...at least, he hopes she would be.

“Fine, then. You’ll see that it’s just the same as yours!” Shirogane shrugs and procures her pad, now seemingly indifferent about being interrogated in this manner. Saihara hesitates.

“Even if her pad is the same...what’s the point of having it on your pad, incriminating you further, when you could just remember the layout? Surely, the mastermind would know the layout of the school back to front.”

“He’s right.”

“Don’t forget about Akamatsu’s plan,” Shirogane reminds them, “Even if you think my alibi is false, there’s still a chance her plan  _ did  _ work. You have a fifty-fifty on your hands; don’t think that everyone believes you because of Akamatsu! Some of you must be doubting her right about now…”

There’s a pause that feels far too guilty. Saihara definitely couldn’t blame them if that’s the situation. He knows how far-fetched it all sounds.

“We’re not willing to bet everything on a fifty-fifty chance, are we? That’s way too risky!”

Saihara silently notes that Monokuma has not attempted to interfere over the past few minutes, despite his announcement that the voting had started. He sighs, deeply.

“I’m sure this is what Monokuma would want…” Shirogane mutters, pointedly eyeing the bear, who elicits no visible response. “If we make the wrong choice, everyone will die. You have proof that I  _ could  _ get to the library from the bathrooms. You don’t have proof that I  _ did  _ do it.”

Saihara’s face falls because, yes, that is technically true. Unless he had the chance to re-sweep the school for evidence, he’s ultimately lacking in proof. On the other hand, this doesn’t come very close to the real proceedings of a trial, and, really, all that matters is that they make a choice. It’s not even like he has to convince everyone with legal proof. This entire trial is as sketchy as they come.

Choice number one was Akamatsu. She essentially set herself up to be discovered after purposely creating a trap to incapacitate the mastermind. Of course, her trap didn’t quite work out the way she’d intended, and had resulted in the accidental demise of Amami. Though she had clearly put thought into her trap, and her trap could’ve worked, they were left with no way to know if it actually did or not.

Choice number two was Shirogane. Her lack of an alibi was suspicious, and, should this be true, her sneaky use of the alleged secret passages seen on Amami’s Monopad were more than incriminating- especially since this would prove that she’d known of the existence of these secret parts to the school prior to Amami’s death.

Then there was Amami in his entirety. Obviously he didn’t kill himself in this situation, yet there was the mystery surrounding his Monopad. Moved and rendered unusable, until now, obviously had to be the work of a second party, but why did he have that special map on his Monopad to begin with?

Well...there was really only one way to find out.

“Monokuma..?”

The monochrome bear chortles with as much condescension as a robot can muster, “Lemme guess...lemme think  _ real  _ hard-- you wanna know about Amami’s Monopad, don’tcha? I’m right, aren’t I?” Though his eyes don’t move, it’s like he’s squinting down at Saihara from his incredibly high pedestal.

“Amami is dead now...does it really matter if you tell us or not?” He does his best to sound as pitiful as possible- you can never stoop too low in a place like this. Nonetheless, Monokuma shakes his head. “As a matter of fact, it does! It’ll only go and ruin the surprise for the rest of you-- and this early in the game? No way!”

“So it  _ does  _ have something to do with us being here! He has something to do with all of this, doesn’t he?” Akamatsu jumps in with an incredible force of passion that momentarily leaves Saihara breathless. Monokuma puts a guilty paw to his snout, “I didn’t say that, did I? Don’t go making wild assumptions!”

“But we already determined that he wasn’t the mastermind, didn’t we?” Yumeno looks as if she’s struggling to keep up, and honestly, Saihara can’t blame her. He’s running out of steam and it looks as if the rest of the gang are too.

“That doesn’t mean he isn’t involved. It could mean he knows about the game, he’s  _ been  _ in a game or maybe it has something to do with his hidden talent. We don’t know.” Toujou looks pensive from behind her fringe.

“But then, by extension, that puts Shirogane in the same boat, doesn’t it?”

“I told you, I don’t know about any secret passage!”

“Then again, Shirogane’s pad doesn’t have that strange map on it...what if Akamatsu’s trap  _ did  _ work and we’re all barking up the wrong tree?” Harukawa folds her arms, eyelashes flitting as she closes her eyes, “And all because Saihara just...thinks she didn’t do it.”

Saihara swallows thickly but it doesn’t go down. That was also true. He can’t just pin this on intuition, even if he  _ was  _ just relying on a gut feeling. He feels his cheeks burn slightly as he pulls the brim of his hat down.

“That trap did look convincing…”

“Ooh, God is taking a nap right about now so I can’t seem to ask for answers. I’ll try again later, shall I?”

“We’ll be dead later, Yonaga!”

“But, on the other hand, Shirogane’s disappearance was definitely suspicious…”

“How was it?!”

“What do we do? They’re both guilty…”

“Saihara could as well just be defending Akamatsu, y’know! They’re preeeetty chummy, don’tcha think so?”

“He’s right. The way Saihara explained it, it seems too perfect not to be the case.”

“Hey,” Akamatsu barks, “I was trying to get Saihara to tell you all the truth to begin with! I didn’t think….this would happen.” She stops and for a moment, Saihara feels this intense stab of guilt, like someone shoving a six-inch shard of glass into his stomach. Had he taken them down the wrong path entirely…?

This was just...this was just bad! It was as bad as bad could be, and now-- now that he’d sown the seed of doubt regarding Shirogane, there were twice as many mysteries to solve.

His fingers worry the brim of his hat, running over every small bump of fabric, and he’s acutely unaware of how hypersensitive the situation is at the moment. His throat aches with a lump and his jaw aches forcing back tears, and he knows if he pulls the hat down any further he might start crying.

But he can’t...vote Akamatsu. He knows, given the solid proof and no other way out he wouldn’t have a choice, but when there’s still that tiny, teasing glimmer of a thread of hope he knows he has to grab it no matter what. It’s the only thing keeping them all alive. Their lives all hang on the thinnest of strings, and that string could snap unless he did something.

Without any thought and any words, he slams his palm down onto one of the buttons built into his podium. The loud smack of the plastic silences the din of the courtroom, and it’s bathed in silence. 

In his mind, he’d chosen hope. Hope didn’t have solid proof. Hope also didn’t have time to waste, and sometimes the situation called for doing before thinking. He’d done enough thinking to frazzle each and every nerve in his brain, and he’d had enough. Now was the time to do something.

In his mind, he’s already accepted the idea of being wrong. He doesn’t look up but if he had the courage to, he’d want to tell Akamatsu that he wouldn’t mind dying for her. He wouldn’t mind it because he knows deep down-- and not just based on a feeling, he  _ knows _ that she would do it for him too.

It’s a fifty-fifty now. 

Nobody says anything else. They look around at each other wordlessly, desperately trying to garner some kind of understanding of the situation, but there’s just nothing. It’s down to each one of them now.

He counts the sounds of the buttons being pressed. 1, 2, 3 all the way upwards...he forgets how many people should be standing here. He just wants it to be over now.

He dares himself, finally, to look upwards after the last button is pressed. Akamatsu’s face is...indescribable. It’s a total mess of emotion, and he couldn’t begin to pick them out even if he tried. The least he can offer, now that he’s done this, is smile.

There’s no rush of excitement here. Monokuma is silent. The Monokubs are silent. The setting is eerie, but nobody wants to rush the results. It may very well just be their very last few moments alive.

So they wait.

And they wait.

Monokuma sits down.

“Everything’s gone...so quiet.”

Kiibo’s voice could very loosely be described as relaxing at a time like this- and this isn’t his lack of social awareness acting out either. Saihara actually welcomes his opinion right about now. It’s more thoughtful than anything.

Kiibo frowns slightly. He doesn’t say it, but nobody will probably understand what he means by that. His head feels incredibly empty.

“Well...well…” Monokuma finally speaks, after Kiibo, “This really... _ was  _ interesting. It was in no way unanimous, I’ll tell you that much.” Saihara can’t help but notice Monokuma doesn’t sound as...mischievous as normal. Nowhere near as despairing, and that alone fills him with dread. It doesn’t seem normal.

“W...who got voted? Was it right?”

“We’re still alive, if that’s anything to go by…”

“Shut up-- who was it?!”

Monokuma suddenly breaks the atmosphere with possibly the loudest, most piercing laugh imaginable. It sounds like an ambulance siren, and it makes Saihara feel like his head is going to be split down the middle. He grinds his teeth, covering his ears with his hands.

“Alright, folks, there’s gonna be a slight change of plan! Looking through the votes, ooh, wow, it was a close one! It seems that the one you all voted as the killer was  _ Shirogane Tsumugi!  _ How exciting!”

“ _ What?! _ ”

Shirogane’s utter shock, evident in her voice, is enough to fill Saihara’s heart with doubt, but, in the split second between conversation, he thinks about it. What was going to happen to them now? Did...this mean she was guilty?

“So?! Did she do it?!”

“Hey, this is killing us over here!! Just spit it out already!”

Monokuma laughs, as if just to fill the silence. The suspense is so long and drawn out that it’s meaningless now. It feels like despairing boredom.

“But...what are you going to do!? This isn’t the end!” Shirogane’s eyes dart between each one of the robotic bears, “It wasn’t supposed to…”

“Wasn’t supposed to ‘what’, Shirogane?” Momota snaps but he’s plainly ignored. Shirogane’s expression is intense for a moment, before relaxing. “It...It’ll still continue, won’t it?”

“...What?!”

“What are you saying? You talkin’ about the game?”

Monokuma laughs. He laughs and he laughs and he laughs.

“I’ll say-- you’re all correct! All of you that voted for Shirogane, that is! I gotta say, I didn’t think this would happen! How despairingly exciting!” Monokuma slips off of the chair and onto the floor in front of them.

Saihara releases a breath that he hadn’t been holding. It comes out in a harsh pant and he clutches his chest, head bolting upright to look at Akamatsu. She looks…

She looks awesome. Not ‘awesome’ as in ‘cool’ but ‘awesome’ as in Saihara is literally in awe. Her hands are clasped firmly around her mouth, eyes as wide as they could be, but no tears. She’s shaking so hard that she looks ready to fall over. Gokuhara has pulled her into the tightest hug imaginable, rabbiting on eagerly at her about how he’d voted for Shirogane and how he’d believed in her. 

By the looks of it, she doesn’t seem to believe in it herself.

“So...it was Shirogane?”

“We  _ really  _ dodged a fucking bullet this time.”

“Woah...I’m sweating.”

“Shirogane, did you really kill Amami?”

Shirogane’s eyes are blank. They’ve turned an odd, dingy colour, reminiscent of a dead fish. It’s as if Shirogane, herself, has been encased in ice and left in the open for any carnivore to swoop in and swallow her whole- and, seeing as it was Monokuma, that very well could be possible. Saihara can’t see anything in those eyes, and he’s a little afraid to keep staring in case he sees something he doesn’t like.

“It didn’t go too well for you, did it?” Monokuma teases. “My bad-- we’ve been having a little...trouble somewhere else. Things haven’t been going so well.” He laughs, despite his words. 

“I knew I should’ve swapped the whole pad out. What’s...what’s going to happen. It’ll carry on, won’t it?”

Monokuma shakes his head. Saihara feels as if the floor beneath him has dropped away. Shirogane now looks a little desperate, “What do you mean? It can still continue!”

“What the fuck are you talkin’ about?! You want this shit to  _ continue?! _ ”

“So...she is the mastermind. Isn’t she?”

“We’re switching up our regular schedule! Views haven’t been that good- you should know that!” Monokuma shrugs, “Don’t worry, though, we have something else planned. Not  _ nearly  _ as exciting as the game, but--”

“B-But, you can’t just stop it...it was supposed to be Akamatsu.”

Akamatsu visibly freezes. She can’t tell if she’s been set-up or what. The idea that the plan for the trap had been put into her head by someone else is ridiculous, and yet now totally believable, and the very thought of it makes her fret that she can’t even trust her own mind to be hers.

“What about Danganronpa? Is that gonna continue?”

“See, now that’s real difficult. I don’t think it matters to you either way, seeing as the rules are the rules, after all. We’re still on and the votes were all on you. You have your side to keep up!” Monokuma laughs in a way that really can only be described as utterly cruel but Shirogane...does not seem to be cracking in the way Saihara would expect.

“This...isn’t despair. It’s totally failed!”

“Alright, alright, we had a good setup, but-- in your defense, it’s been touch and go for a while. You should see what’s going on on the outside.” Monokuma gestures vaguely to ‘outside’ and shrugs. “We’ve never had an ending like this before, either-- not this early, so we’re eager to... _ exploit  _ that.”

Shirogane is silent and Monokuma leans up as far as he can into her face.

“You wanted to do this for the thing you loved so much, didn’t you? Don’t you think now would be the  _ perfect  _ time? Reveling in  _ your  _ despair. Ah, how ironic~!” He turns away, striding off a few paces.

Saihara can’t help but note that the Monokubs have been silent and still this entire time. and it’s genuinely worrying him. Despite the protests from everyone around them, and the demands for answers, Shirogane and Monokuma’s conversation carries on.

Shirogane smiles, but it’s insincere.

“It’s a total failure. It can’t end this way...it’s a disappointment to it all. Everyone’s going to be so let down by this ending.” She says, pitifully. “This is what everyone wanted- the world wanted Danganronpa. I don’t believe this…” Her eyes are just dull now, glazed over and gazing off into the distance, but something is pulling at the corners of her mouth. Saihara doesn’t want to believe that could be a smile. 

“Aw, don’t feel bad! Now’s your chance to make it exciting!”

“So what will happen to the others…?”

Monokuma pauses. “Now that’s...what I think you’re going to like.” Their conversation makes no sense at all to everybody else around them, and at this point, though it appears their safety has been secured, they’re desperate for answers.

“Are you even listening to us?! What the hell is going on, Shirogane?!”

“S...So you were the mastermind the whole time!! No way!”

Shirogane’s expression is borderline unreadable- she doesn’t respond to any of the cries of outrage surrounding her but very soon, her thin-lined mouth is replaced by something a little more harrowing. Saihara watches as her lips curl into a pleasant yet shaky smile and she emits a sigh.

“I don’t wanna live in a world where Danganronpa doesn’t exist…” She says to nobody in particular, arms gripped tightly together. Saihara can identify something eerily familiar in her eyes that makes him feel nauseous. She turns back to Monokuma, “What did you say was going to happen now?”

“Puhuhu...I didn’t!” He snickers, “But, don’t worry, we appreciate your work for us- yadda, yadda, yadda...we didn’t want it to end this way either, but we’re just making the best of the poor hand of cards we’ve been dealt with.” He waves a paw flippantly, “Don’t think these kids are getting out of it that easy-- we’re trying something different now.”

“And I guess you can’t tell me…”

“Hey, toots, this entire  _ franchise  _ is built on despair! Don’t act so surprised! Now...enough of all the behind-the-scenes talk-- how do you fancy an execution of your very own?!”

Every voice is falling on deaf ears now, but Shirogane’s eyes glimmer with excitement, “If it’s for the show-- if it’s what they want…” There’s a faint, delusional blush peppering her cheeks, and both Saihara and Akamatsu are painfully aware of the fact Shirogane happened to be the first of their many classmates that they’d met days ago. Was...that on purpose?

“Shirogane! What is Danganronpa?!” Saihara suddenly yells-- if he didn’t get information now then who could tell when he would? It seemed Monokuma wasn’t finished with them yet so who knew if they were really safe or not. He sweats, wondering if he’d only landed them in further trouble.

Shirogane doesn’t answer, instead saying, “Sorry, everybody~! I know you all wanted this to carry on so badly…”

“Don’t act delusional-- we want out of here!! What the hell is going on?!”

She promptly ignores Momota, “Oh, I really, really,  _ really  _ wanna tell you  _ all  _ about it! It’s something the whole world is wanting...but...well, it might ruin the surprise for you in the future. I can’t ruin something that everyone is looking forward to…”

She claps her hands together. Nobody is speaking now- there’s no point. Any argument is rebutted. Every question is ignored. Even though it seems now Shirogane, despite having some kind of involvement here, is going to die, nobody can bring themselves to do anything.

“I think it’s fitting, actually...being the ‘mastermind’ and all-- and if I’m going to follow in Junko’s footsteps, then perfect! I can’t wait!” She’s excited for a moment, but her demeanour slowly turns serious, “But...don’t think you can fight against what the world wants. This game might be over now, but Danganronpa will always continue! The whole world loves it!”

“W...What are you talking about?! People...people don’t  _ want  _ this! That’s crazy!  _ We  _ don’t want this!” Akamatsu cries, “Do people know what’s really going on here?!”

Saihara pulls the brim of his hat further over his head. Were...people aware of what was going on here? Was the whole world in on the game? Could that even be possible? He looks up to address Shirogane, remembering something lurking that he’d never gotten an answer to.

“Shirogane, has this got something to do with the Ultimate Hunt?”

Shirogane is silent for a long time. She’s actually  _ surprised,  _ and before Saihara can even begin to wonder why, she bursts out into uncontrollable laughter. She smudges the tears across her cheeks with the flat of her palm, hiccuping softly.

“Oh...Saihara- ahahah! You know, I could tell you, but it might even ruin it for you!”

Saihara frowns- people are arguing in the background. He knows he won’t get what he wants, so he settles for what he can get. “Then, tell me this- is it important?”

Shirogane pauses with a hand on her hip, “Hmm...well, it  _ could  _ be considered important. It definitely has something to do with all of you.” She shrugs, “Sorry. I’m here to make it interesting. The more you have to figure out the more fun it’ll be!”

“You’re sick! Have you been enjoying this the whole time?!”

“Wow, I...really didn’t think it would be her. That’s kind of a surprise, huh?” Ouma stretches his limbs outwards in a cat-like manner, and Momota glares solidly at him, “What the hell are you going on about? You think this is a time to relax?”

“Well, why not? We caught the mastermind, didn’t we? We’re all gonna live. As far as I see it, that’s good enough.” He has this odd twinge to his voice that always sounds insincere, even when he’s stating the most obvious of truths. Saihara wonders if this is what makes him such an adept liar.

“You think it’s gonna be that easy?” Hoshi sighs, “You’ve seen this place. Surely they’d have some kind of backup plan.”

“Does this mean...Shirogane’s actually gonna get executed? For real?! Tenko doesn’t wanna watch that!”

Saihara is too breathless to talk. He’s opted to just stare at Akamatsu, reveling in how good her safety feels to him. Gokuhara still has a firm arm clamped around her protectively and now he understands exactly what Akamatsu meant by trust.

Trust really was what got them through this. Of course, not everyone can trust so easily- those people are just as important as the people who can, but he can’t deny that he’s curious as to who voted Akamatsu as the killer.

The sound of paws clapping together silences the whole courtroom. It’s baffling, considering how small Monokuma is, but there’s still something about the bear that makes everyone feel immediately uneasy.

“Well, then, that’s enough of that! I’m not paying you all to sit around and whine, y’know! It’s execution time! What we’ve all been waiting for!”

Anything past what was said now just sounds like nothing to Saihara. He can’t tell if some of the group are fighting to keep Shirogane safe-- he supposes that’s admirable in its own right, but he’s not sure he could do the same. Is he supposed to forgive someone who put them in the situation of a killing game? Not to mention poor Akamatsu.

He pauses.

“How did you kill Amami…?”

Shirogane smiles, looking at him, and it feels like pure, concentrated fear. He doesn’t get a response. She won’t give it to him now. They were so caught up about Shirogane being the mastermind that they’d forgotten what they’d been fighting for to begin with. He isn’t sure it matters anymore…

Whether intentional or not, Amami really had been the key to finding the mastermind. Saihara vows to show his appreciation for the deceased member of their group in any way he can once this is over.

That is, if he’s still alive by the time it’s over.

**Author's Note:**

> ok im actually drunk n idk if this makes sense but ive had this sitting in my docs for like ten years so i figured id post it


End file.
